Put Your Players in A Good Position

Give Your Players One Job

All too often in coaching we expect our players to do things that are just not possible.  We give them 2 or 3 assignments and when they get beat we scream at them.  I have been guilty of the same things myself in the past.  Maybe you tell your lineman to get movement on a double team and then yell when they don't come off for a backer.  Or you tell your corner not to get beat deep and then scream when he gives up a hitch route for 8 yards.  You want your backers to play hard downhill, but yell for more depth on play action.

PRIMETIME

Today I want to look at corner play in Cover 2 to a single receiver side.  You have to know what you want from your corner if you expect him to do his job.  I think you have two choices for your corners.  They can either support the run and give up a jam on the #1 receiver, or they can hard funnel the #1 receiver and be late in the run game.  If you are asking him to do both you are asking him to potentially fail.  Unless you have an extremely gifted corner it will be hard for him to do both jobs effectively. To get the most out of your corner in Cover 2 give him a job based on down and distance or tendency.  if you are expecting run then play him in a "Slice" technique and squeeze him hard into the D gap creating an 8 man front.  Just understand in doing this he will not jam #1 and might be late to the hitch or out cut.  If you are expecting pass or facing a dominant X receiver have him play a hard jam or funnel technique.  When doing this he may be late to support the run unless it is into the boundary. 

You are not playing a different coverage, you are just giving him a chance to be successful in a technique that you want him to play.  If you treat the single side of formations the same in your coverages, your players can get good at the different techniques you want them to play.  You will be presenting a different picture for the QB while playing the same coverage with your players.

We have to try and coach smarter not harder if we want our players to be successful.  Think about giving your players simple jobs that they can be effective playing and their confidence will increase and you will build trust with your players.

PLAY FAST